Inclusion for a Productive Global and Remote Conversation

One of the riveting moments during the 2020 U.S. presidential campaign was when Senator Kamala Harris repeatedly said, “I’m speaking,” in response to debate partner Vice President Mike Pence’s interruptions. She was trying to stay verbally engaged. He was trying to verbally dominate. After several interruptions, Harris finally said, "If you don't mind letting me finish, we can have a conversation, okay?”?

To have a conversation is precisely the point. A conversation—the productive exchange of views or information—can only occur between two or more people. If one person dominates, it’s a lecture.?

Although teams are not likely to be debating on a national stage, they often need to exchange ideas, views, and information in conversation in order to work together. On remote teams, when people do not have the opportunity to naturally build up trust by working in the same physical location, some people may find it easier to speak on video calls while others may be naturally reticent or less confident and therefore less likely to contribute. If members on a remote team are non-native English speakers, attaining a balanced conversation where everyone can feel comfortable participating is made even more challenging by the fact that differing levels of English language fluency is likely to exist. In other words, a remote worker who has a less than fluent command of the English language is hit with a kind of double whammy when attending a video meeting.?

To help remote teams made up of native and non-native English speakers communicate fully and productively over digital media, I have constructed the rules of engagement described below. Essentially, the virtual fluent English speakers must learn to dial down dominance, the virtual nonfluent speakers must learn to dial up engagement, and everyone, especially the remote managers, must learn to balance for inclusion.??

Fluent speakers dial down dominance?

Remote team members who speak English fluently have to understand the need for everyone to participate fully in discussions and to take conscious steps to include team members who speak less fluently. As a leader, you can intentionally slow down your speaking speed and avoid jargon or idioms that can easily confuse, thereby modeling to other fluent speakers the responsibility to change the tone and pace.??

You may need to remind or instruct other fluent speakers to refrain from dominating the conversation. Some team members find it useful to limit themselves to a certain number of comments, depending on the pace and subject matter of the meeting. Fluent speakers should also be encouraged to listen actively. You can also model rephrasing another’s statement for clarification or emphasis. Meeting dynamics are healthy when fluent speakers ask things such as, “I think this is what you are saying?”?

Likewise, checking to make sure less fluent team members understand what had just been said is also very important to create a balanced, inclusive environment. Especially after making a particularly difficult or lengthy point, verbally check in by asking, “Do you understand what I am saying?” These communication behaviors create the conditions that give less fluent speakers the confidence to join the conversations that take place over digital media despite being limited in their language abilities and geographically distributed.?

Less fluent speakers dial up engagement??

Speakers who are less fluent nonnative English speakers have to share the responsibility for the discussion by including themselves. As a leader, you should empathize with the discomfort some feel speaking English and support language learning opportunities whenever necessary; however, inviting team members to be heard more often, despite any discomfort, is important.?

If you are a nonnative speaker, you may find it useful to monitor the frequency of your responses in a similar fashion as the fluent speakers, but with the goal to speak up more. As with fluent speakers, non-fluent speakers need to learn to make sure they are accurately heard. Leaders can model asking, “Do you understand what I’m saying?” and push for an honest answer. If the answer is “No,” then you must respond by repeating what you’ve just said or finding a way to say it differently. Eventually, you will feel comfortable enough to ask a teammate to repeat a point or say it differently if you lose track of a fast-paced conversation. In the long run, it’s not helpful to keep your device on mute or nod in agreement if you do not fully understand what is said!?

Nonfluent speakers should resist the temptation to speak in their native language in a video call where other team members do not understand what is being said. Switching between the common business language and one’s native tongue is called “code-switching.” But code-switching into a language that not everyone knows can cause alienation and increase psychological distance on the team. If you still occasionally slip into your native language that is foreign to your teammates, be sure to apologize and translate the conversation for everyone’s benefit. Practice, leaders’ encouragement, and knowing that everyone is required, for the good of the team, to follow explicit rules of engagement when speaking all make a difference.

Everyone balances for inclusion

Everyone in a team has to take on the necessary role of maintaining balance during virtual calls. Watch for interruptions; politicians are not the only ones with this habit! Balance means a good mix of speaking and listening on the part of each team member. To a certain extent, team members should track their own behaviors in order to influence this balance. But over time, the goal is that the team develops the norm of tuning into when a meeting is becoming imbalanced in terms of who is speaking and who is listening. Team leaders need to learn to directly ask less fluent speakers for their opinions, proposals, and perspectives. “What do you think?” or “Could we hear your input?” are simple phrases to solicit more participation and subtly intervene to change a group dynamic in a discussion where some have been overly dominant and others reluctant to contribute.

Balanced inclusion for effective group communication is not relegated to video calls or multilingual teams. Research has shown that even when everyone speaks the same language or is in the same room, it’s crucial that everyone in the group has roughly equal time to speak and listen. Equal participation is necessary for true, collaborative conversation—it’s how people become engaged with the project or issue at hand. For these reasons, leaders must remind their teams about the need for repeated contributions, and the fact that the nature of remote work mandates that each person participate. No team member should have to inform the others that “I’m speaking.”

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